Opening, closing, and locking device



G. MADLAND OPENING, CLOSING AND LOCKING DEVICE April 16, 1957 United States Patent OPENING, CLOSING, AND LOCKING DEVICE Gabriel Madland, Chicago, Ill., assignor to The Youngstown Steel Door Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 26, 1954, Serial No. 471,403

4 Claims. (Cl. 292-283) This invention relates to opening, closing and locking devices and more particularly to such devices adapted for use in connection with sliding doors of railway cars.

It is an object of this invention to provide opening, closing and locking Adevices for sliding doors of railway cars embodying hasps and tapered locking pins or the like wherein the wall of the hasps which engages the pins shall be so constructed as to prevent the hasps from forcing the pins upwardly when the railway cars are subjected to impact.

A further object is to provide opening, closing and locking devices for sliding doors of railway cars which shall embody hasps and tapered locking pins and shall be so constructed that upward movement of the pins which might occur will not break the seals used with such devices.

A further object is to provide opening, closing and locking devices for sliding doors of railway cars which shall embody hasps, tapered locking pins and opening and closing levers and where the locks shall be sealed by means of seals which pass through the hasps and levers instead of through the locking pins.

A further object is to provide opening, closing and locking devices for sliding doors of railway cars which shall embody hasps, tapered locking pins and opening and closing levers so constructed and arranged that the levers will engage portions of the devices and limit opening movement of the doors when the railway cars are subjected to impact which will cause the pins to move upwardly and become disengaged from the hasps.

Other objects of the invention will become clear as the description thereof proceeds.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is an elevation showing a lock embodying the instant invention applied to the double doors of an automobile box car.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 2-2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3-3 of Fig.V 1.

An opening, closing and locking device embodying the instant invention is illustrated in the drawings and is of such construction as to be adapted for application to the double doors of an automobile box car. It is to be understood, however, that the invention can as readily be embodied in opening, closing and locking devices which are adapted for application to the single doors of box cars.

The double doors of automobile box cars comprise a main door Y and an auxiliary door 11 of well known construction. These doors are customarily mounted for sliding movement upon the sides of the cars in a manner which is well known to those skilled in the art. The main door 10 embodies a metallic panel 12 formed with horizontal corrugations 13. The front vertical edge of the main door is reinforced by means of a substantially Z-shaped member 14 to which the metallic panel 12 and a backing plate 15 are secured as by means of rivets 16 and 17.

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The auxiliary door 11 comprises a metallic panel 18 formed with horizontal corrugations 19. The front vertical margin of the auxiliary door is reinforced by means of a substantially bathtub-shaped member 20 to which the metallic panel 18 and a backing plate 21 are secured as by means of rivets 22 and 23. The rivets 23 also serve to secure the customary auxiliary door post 24 to the front vertical margin of the auxiliary door.

The opening, closing and locking device of the instant invention embodies a hasp fastener 25 secured as by means of rivets 26 to one of the horizontal corrugations 13 of the main door 10. The hasp fastener 25 extends through an eye 27 0f a hasp 28 in order to swingably support the latter. The hasp 28 embodies a box section 29 having a side wall 30 which is convex. The hasp 28 is formed with an outwardly extending flange 31 which is preferably arcuate in shape and which is provided with a seal slot 32.

The opening, closing and locking device embodying theinstant invention also comprises a lock bracket 33 which is secured to the auxiliary door 11 as by means of rivets 34 and 35 and which is so constructed that a portion thereof will lie within the channel-shaped section of the bathtub-shaped reinforcing member 20 for the auxiliary door. The lock bracket 33 embodies upper and lower spaced housing members 36 and 37 which are adapted to receive a vertically movable locking pin 38. The locking pin has a vertical side 39 and a downwardly and inwardly inclined side 40.

An opening and closing lever 41 is pivotally carried by the lock bracket 33 as indicated at 42. Above the pivot 42 the opening and closing lever 41 is provided with an outwardly extending lug 43 which is adapted to be inserted through an opening 44 formed in the hasp 2S in order to cooperate with the hasp to obtain initial opening and final closing movements of the main door. The upper portion of the opening and closing lever 41 is also provided with an outwardly extending ilange 45 concentric Vwith the ange 31 formed on the hasp 28. The flange 45 which is substantially longer than the flange 31 is provided with an elongated seal-receiving slot 46.

The drawing illustrates in full lines the relationship of the parts of the opening, closing and locking device when the main and auxiliary doors are closed. At this time the doors are locked together by the engagement between the tapered locking pin and the box section of the hasp 28. ln its locking position the vertical side 39 0f the locking pin 38 bears against the adjacent walls of the housing members 36 and 37 and the convex side wall 30 0f the hasp bears against the inclined side 40 of the locking pin. The contourV of the side wall 30 of the hasp and the resulting association between this side wall and the inclined side of the pin` is important inasmuch as it prevents the hasp from exerting the newly discovered forces exerted by the present hasps upon the pins causing the pins to move upwardly relative to the hasps. At this time also the lug 43 on the opening and closing lever 41 extends through the opening 44 in the hasp so that engagement between the lever and the hasp is obtained. This engagement serves to restrict vertical swinging move ment of the lever 41 in a plane parallel to the doors even though the car upon which the doors are mounted is subjected to severe impact.

It will be observed from Fig. 1 of the drawing that the seal slot customarily provided in the lower end of the locking pin whereby the pin may be sealed to a ange provided on the lock bracket is eliminated. Instead a seal (not shown) is threaded through the alined openings 32 and 46 provided respectively in the flanges 31 and 45 of the hasp and the lever. As a result of this construction it becomes apparent that should impact to the car cause the locking pin to move upwardly, this movement cannot break the seal even though the locking pin should move 'to such an lextent that the lower vend thereof will moveinto the upper lock bracket housing 36.

I Moreover, should the impact to the car be so severe that the locking pin moves upwardly to such 'an extent that it becomes completely disengaged from "the hasp the integrity of the seal will still be maintained. When this condition arises the main door and the hasp will under the influence of the impact move in opening direction, that is, 'to the right as viewed in Fig. 1 of the drawing. During lthis movement the hasp will yexert a pull upon the lug 43 formed on the lever 4-1 and cause the lever to rotate in a clockwise direction. However, due to the elongated slot 46 in the flange 45 formed on the lever the rotation of the latter can take place Without breaking the seal. At a pre-determined point in the rotation of the lever under the condition noted immediately above such rotation is halted. To accomplish this the lock bracket 33 is formed with a shoulder 47 which is adapted to engage the upper edge of the lever as illustrated in dot and dash lines in Fig. l of the drawing. The major portion 'of the force of impact which causes upward movement of the pin, opening movement of the door, and rotation of the open ing and closing lever is expended upon the pin. The remaining portion of the force of this impact is transmitted to the lug 43 on 'the lever and from it to the shoulder 47 and the pivot pin 42. The lug 43 is of sufticicnt strength to carry this force while the pivot pin of the lever and the engagement of the lever with the abutment 47 serve to limit opening movement of the door.

To release the main door 10 from the auxiliary door 11 in the normal operation of the opening, closing and locking device the seal which extends through the seal slots 32 and 45 is removed. The locking pin 38 is then moved upwardly and supported in inclined position by the upper housing member 36 in order to disengage the pin from the hasp. The lever 41 is then swung in clockwise direction in order to impart initial opening movement to the main door. The hasp 28 is then disengaged from the lug 43 on the lever and opening movement of the door is completed. To close the door the foregoing steps in reverse are employed.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in the details of the invention will be clear to those skilled in the art. it is intended, therefore, that all such modifications and changes be comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only by the scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

l. A device of the character described for sliding doors of railway cars comprising a hasp fastener adapted to be secured to a door, a hasp swingably supported by said hasp fastener, a lock bracket adapted to be secured to a for limiting upward swinging movement thereof.

2. A device of the character described for sliding doors of railway cars comprising a hasp fastener adapted to be secured to a door, a hasp swingably supported by said hasp fastener, a lock bracket adapted to be secured to a relatively stationary member of a said car, a vertically movable tapered locking pin carried by said lock bracket, said pin being engageable with said hasp to lock said door, a lever pivotally mounted upon said lock bracket adjacent to the lower end thereof, engageable means on said lever and said hasp for imparting sliding movement to said door, a ange extending from said hasp, a flange extending from said lever and disposed adjacent to said hasp flange when said door is locked, seal slots in said flanges, the seal slot in one of said flanges being elonl gated.

relatively stationary member of a said car, a vertically movable tapered locking pin carried by said lock bracket, Said pin being engageable with said hasp to lock said door,

3. A device of the character described for sliding doors of railway cars comprising a hasp fastener adapted to be secured to a door, a hasp swingably supported by said hasp fastener, a lock bracket adapted to be secured to a relatively stationary member of a said car, a vertically movable tapered locking pin carried by said lock bracket, said pin being engageable with said hasp to lock said door, a lever pivotally mounted upon said lock bracket adjacent to the lower end thereof, engageable means on said lever and said hasp for imparting sliding movement to said door, an arcuate flange extending from said hasp, an elongated concentric flange extending from said lever and disposed adjacent to said hasp tlange when said door is locked, seal slots in said flanges, the seal slot in said lever flange being elongated, and means on said lock bracket engageable with said lever for limiting upward swinging movement thereof.

4. In combination, a hasp fastener adapted to be secured to a sliding door of a railway car, a hasp swingably supported by said hasp fastener, said hasp having a convex wall, a lock bracket adapted to be secured to a relatively stationary member of said car, a vertically movable tapered locking pin carried by said bracket, said locking pin having a vertical side adapted to bear against said bracket and a downwardly and inwardly inclined side adapted to be engaged by said convex wall of said hasp when said pin and hasp are in locking engagement.

References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

